Yunesky Maya is sharp as Syracuse Chiefs shut out Rochester Red Wings

After allowing 28 runs in its six-game losing streak, the Syracuse Chiefs found a combination of strong pitching and baserunning to break the skid. Starting pitcher Yunesky Maya threw eight scoreless innings as the Chiefs beat the Rochester Red Wings 3-0 Saturday at Bank Alliance Stadium.

Maya threw 104 pitches, allowing just three hits and five men to reach base. He came into Saturday’s game with an ERA of 5.01, but dropped to 3.73 after the win.

“I felt that I was throwing well,” Maya said through an interpreter. “I didn’t feel my screwball was there, but everything else felt really good today.”

Maya threw 3-2/3 hitless innings before Rochester’s Corey Brown singled up the middle in the fourth. Maya kept the Red Wings quiet until allowing one hit in each of the seventh and eighth innings.

Despite the three hits, one walk and one hit batter, Maya only had more than one runner on base once the entire day. That came in the sixth, with 21 pitches in his longest inning of the game. With Red Wing runners on first and third, Maya struck out the last batter to end the inning.

“When he is able to throw strike one and go after guys, he’s got so many different pitches he can throw after that,” Syracuse manager Randy Knorr said. “He’s just so hard to hit.”

Saturday was Maya’s fifth start of the season but his first win. The right-hander has improved in every start this year. In his last start against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 24, Maya recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in seven innings.

“In his last three starts, he’s been pretty darn good,” Knorr said. “You watch guys at the beginning, hitters and pitchers, who have up-and-down starts. The really good ones, when they get a feel for the game and get comfortable, they start to rattle off some good games for you.”

“With every start, I feel stronger. I’ve been working a lot with my pitching coach to improve my game every day,” Maya said. “I’m starting to feel like I’m getting my stuff together right now.”

Although Maya didn’t get a lot of run support, Syracuse took advantage of the runners they did get on base. Roger Bernadina, in his first game back from Washington, singled in the third inning. Bernadina attempted to steal second, but an errant throw by the catcher skipped to the outfield and Bernadina raced to third.

Seth Bynum then looped a single to right field to score Bernadina.

Syracuse continued similar smart hit-and-run plays for the rest of the afternoon. Although the Chiefs scored only three runs, Knorr believes the team is starting to hit its stride.

“The approach with the players and the contact we are making is so much better that I’m hoping that it will carry over,” he said. “We didn’t get the hits that we wanted, but the contact and the way the ball was coming off the bat, I felt that it was starting to come around.”

Cole Kimball collected his fourth save of the year after coming in to pitch in the ninth. He has now 9-2/3 innings without an earned run.

Bernadina had two of the Chiefs’ six hits, including a leadoff double to start the game. Saturday was Tug Hulett’s first game with the Chiefs that he didn’t produce a hit. He carried a five-game hitting streak into the game.

The victory was just Syracuse’s third this season at home, its first since April 14.

How the runs scored

Chiefs 3rd: Manship pitching. Bynum singles on a line drive to right field. Bernadina scores from third. Chiefs 1-0.